Every Day Is Special: Hatshepsut

Showing posts with label Hatshepsut. Show all posts

April 24 - Thutmose III Becomes Pharaoh - Hatshepsut Becomes Powerful!

Posted on April 24, 2020

It's weird to think that we know the exact date of something that happened about 3,500 years ago! And yet April 24, 1479 B.C.E. is given as the date when the Ancient Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose II died, and his son, Thutmose III, became the ruler.

Problem was, Thutmose III was only two years old!

Luckily, Thutmose III had a stepmother (who was also, by the way, his aunt) who could rule as regent. Hatshepsut had been the primary wife of Thutmose II. She stepped into the role of making decisions and setting the course for the Egyptian Empire.

And that course was a lot more peaceful than "normal" for the times. Hatshepsut re-established important trade routes and started hundreds of construction projects. Her buildings are considered grander than any of the earlier pharaoh's works. She ordered many sculptures and had two obelisks created and positioned at the entrance to the Temple of Karnak; these are considered the tallest in the world at the time.

Shortly after Hatshepsut became regent, she elevated herself to the position of pharaoh. (She didn't officially take the pharaoh-ship away from Thutmose III, but she did make him, when he was old enough, the head of her armies.)

It was uncommon for a woman to rule Ancient Egypt, but there had already been one to three female pharaohs, and of course some women ruled as regents.

Hatshepsut was the daughter of a king (Thutmose I), and she was both half-sister and wife of another king (Thutmose II), so her bloodline as pharaoh was completely solid. She had served in an important office called God's Wife when her father was pharaoh, and she used that position plus her knowledge of history and of the Ancient Egyptian religion to make the case for herself as Egypt's ruler.

Modern-day scholars consider Hatshepsut a very good pharaoh. Her reign was relatively long and peaceful, and it was very prosperous.

By the way, when Hatshepsut died (in her mid-40s), Thutmose III became the pharaoh. He was then in his early 20s, which nowadays at least would be considered a young man. Perfect timing, right?

Maybe.

The truth is that some of Hatshepsut's statues were removed and replaced with Thutmose III statues, and in other cases her statues remained but her name was chiseled off statues and buildings. Some scholars (at least in the past) believed that Thutmose III may have been angry that he had been kept from the throne for around 20 years. Others aren't sure that Thutmose III is to blame for the statue removals and damage; it's possible that other important people resented a woman in power or had other motivations.

Nefertiti (above) and Cleopatra (below)
are more famous than Hatshepsut...but
the latter is considered by many to be
the "first great woman" that we know of...

Also on this date:

Demography pioneer John Graunt's birthday

Poetry and the Creative Mind Day

Concord Day in Niger

Anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope

Anniversary of the publishing of America's first newspaper

Anniversary of the opening of the Woolworth Building

National Pigs in a Blanket Day

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

Pay It Forward

Anniversary of the start of the Quantum Revolution

Teach Children to Save Day

Anniversary of the start of the Library of Congress

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February 1 – Anniversary of Hatshepsut's Death

Posted on February 1, 2014

Hatshepsut, Foremost of Noble Ladies, Pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt, lived more than 3,500 years ago. So we are not sure of the exact date that she died in 1458 BCE.

But late January or early February is a pretty good guess.

Hatshepsut is considered one of the most successful pharaohs. She established trade networks that contributed to the wealth of Ancient Egypt. She is the first person known to have arranged the transplant of foreign trees. (Thirty-one live myrrh trees were brought at her request from the Land of Punt to Egypt.) Hatshepsut commissioned many building projects, and some argue that her monuments and buildings were grander and more numerous than those of any earlier pharaoh. Some people say that one reason for Egypt's prosperity during Hatshepsut's reign was that money was spent on increasing trade rather than on waging war.

I didn't realize until recently that women had relatively high status in Ancient Egypt. They had the right to own property, and they could will their property to their heirs as well as inherit property from their parents. Women pharaohs were rare, but there were a handful of other female pharaohs as well as some wives and mothers who, it is believed, ruled in their male relatives' names.

So Hatshepsut wasn't the one-and-only female pharaoh, but she was still an amazing woman!

Not everyone was a fan!

All Egyptian pharaohs bragged about their accomplishments and strengths on their monuments and buildings, and Hatshepsut was no different. She bragged less about her military victories than did most pharaohs and more about her beauty. But they all exaggerated their wonderful qualities.

Hatshepsut's cartouche

I wonder if that bragging is seen as more unpleasant in a woman than in a man. It's hard to know why, but somebody—Hatshepsut's nephew, maybe, or his son, perhaps—had many of the images and name cartouches of Hatshepsut erased, as much as he could, from the public record. In many cases that meant that her images and cartouches were literally chiseled off of the monuments!

One of my favorite books from my childhood paints Hatshepsut as a monster who spent way too much of Egypt's wealth on her own silly plans and imprisoned her nephew, the rightful ruler, years after he should've ruled. I grew up thinking that she was one of Ancient Egypt's worst rulers instead of one of her best. But that is not what historians say.

(By the way, I think everyone should read this wonderful novel. Just because it isn't true – I mean, novels AREN'T true, they are fiction! – doesn't mean it isn't a really fun read!)

Also on this date: